Good Fish Bite Wraps The Week Up

I fished with Mike and Louise (Lou) Maguth this morning, meeting them up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp early. We had a heavy breeze blowing out of the south west so we headed over to Lanceford Creek with plans to fish a large outflow on the first of an outgoing tide. The two anglers began with float rigs and live shrimp. Even though the first cast produced a high flying Ladyfish, we didn't have any other real bites so we worked up the bank for a bit. There was a lot of bait action and I thought for sure we'd pick up a fish, but no - no fish. We dropped back and fished the first runout where
we had started - the tide had dropped just a bit - and this paid off. Lou hooked up and landed a nice 19" Seatrout, then she put another keeper sized Trout in the boat.

We moved around and fished some dock pilings and just when I thought it was to no avail - BOOM! Fish on!  Lou (the classiest dressed angler I've ever had on my boat) hooked up, battled and landed a big 24" Black Puppy Drum. Then she put another one in the boat. I was beginning to think Mike had just come along for the ride but I guess he decided to get busy - he caught a nice 22" Slot Redfish, then a keeper sized Black Drum, then another, bigger Slot Redfish. Before it was over they had landed 3 keeper sized Seatrout, 3 Slot sized Redfish, and 3 keeper sized Black Drum - and tossed back some smaller fish.

Things finally slowed so we made the long run around to the Jolley River and fished the "bank" Mike put one feisty Red in the boat then both anglers did battle with some 3' long Bonnethead Shark.

The Anglers Mark is going in the shop tomorrow for it's 100 hour service so it was a great way to wrap up a week of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Rain'n Fish

I fished with the Park boys - Grandad George, his son Matt, and grandson Joseph today, meeting them up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park early this morning for a half day of fishing. We made the short run down to Lanceford Creek and set  up outside a nice run out on a tide that had been going out for a few hours - the oysters were already showing. It may have been the first cast, maybe the second when young Joseph hooked up and "knocked the skunk off" with a nice Seatrout catch on a float rig with live shrimp as bait.  We had a few more Seatrout caught but although the bait fish were making a commotion, we had no other fish.

We moved around and fished some dock pilings and this did the trick. Matt was fishing out of the stern and that seemed to be the spot - he hooked up and expertly landed  an nice keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum.

Grandpa George lurked and.....

Matt put a keeper Seatrout in the boat, then another keeper Puppy Drum, then another keeper Trout...then George hooked up and, Fish On!  He played it perfectly and soon landed a nice 23" Slot Redfish.  We also caught and released a couple of smaller Reds.

The tide had hit bottom so we pulled up the trolling motor and made the run back to Tiger Island to catch that incoming current. Although we didn't get much here we did pick up a feisty Redfish.

With just minutes left in the trip, we decided to make the short run up to the Jolley River and boy did this pay off- even though a couple of rain showers came thru. The trio combined to land two keeper sized Flounder- George landed one that was 18" to squeeze in to 2nd place in the Anglers Mark 2019 Bragging Rights Tournament-Flounder Category (scroll down the right side of this report for standings), then he hooked up and landed a nice22" Slot Red- this one had some "shoulders" and put up a harder fight than his earlier 23"er.  Matt was on the net, Josephe was "coaching" so it was a team effort to land the fish and make it another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Finally a Big Flounder - and a good day of fishing!

Todd Johnson and his college buddy Garrett met here at Amelia Island and took in a back country trip on the Anglers Mark this morning. We met up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp and scooted across the river to fish Tiger Island logs on the first of an incoming tide. We worked down the island tossing 1/4oz jigs with live shrimp and only had nibbles until Garrett pitched between two stumps. As he took up his slack he felt a "heaviness" and BOOM! Big fish on!  Garrett worked it to the boat as it dug deep, but he kept the pressure on and landed a big 20" Flounder - the biggest of the year on the Anglers
Mark - which set him up in first place of the 2019 Bragging Rights Tournament - Flounder Category (scroll down the right side of this report for standings).  That was the only fish we got at Tiger! Hah!

We cruised around to the Jolley River and fished the "bank" and things sure did heat up. Todd battled a big 25.25" Slot Red to the boat, Garrett added a couple of more keeper sized Flounder, and they both had a smaller Red or two. We fished Snook Creek and picked  up a nice sized Whiting then came back up the Jolley and picked up another couple of Slot Reds and keeper sized Flounder (5 in all).

In addition to some Jacks and a rare Cigar Fish, it turned out to be an outstanding day fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Big Redfish Wraps Up The Day

We had a beautiful morning when I met Jason and Becky Garner and their two kids Emily and
Stephen down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp this morning. Not a cloud in the sky and only a slight breeze as we left the ramp and ran up the intercoastal to dip into Jackstaff Creek with plans to fish float rigs with live shrimp and mud minnows to the grass line on an incoming tide.

We had just got started when Stephen, fishing from the stern, had a hookup and landed a keeper sized Flounder to "knock the skunk off" quick! We fished along that first bank and both Stephen and Becky landed some feisty Jack Crevalle's.
After Jason battled a nice Slot sized Red to the boat we made a quick run thru Horsehead and back down the Nassau to fish some flooded shell beds.

A number of times we had strikes at our baits but no takers until Jason hooked up and landed an even bigger Jack Crevalle. Then Stephen put a hungry Seatrout in the boat. By this time Emily's casting had improved to where she was making excellent casts.   Our next stop was down at Pumpkin Hill where we fished some grassy islands. On our second pass Stephen had his float disappear and as he lifted his rod to let the circle hook set itself he hooked and landed a nice keeper sized Seatrout.

The tide was up so we were able to get into Christopher Creek. We worked some docks with jigs and shrimp and minnows but had no takers. As we approached some grass and branches Stephen made an excellent cast - pin point- and BOOM! Big Fish On! Stephen fought it perfectly as the big fish ran deep, keeping the pressure on. When the fish ran Stephen followed it to the stern and went from starboard to port and back to starboard again. After a good battle he landed a big oversized 28.25" Redfish - boy what a nice fish, and great one to wrap up a good day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Click to See video here:
https://www.facebook.com/becky.j.garner.5/videos/10219548119399161/

#7 Spot is the Charm

Back to "work" today! I fished with Alan Richardson,  his son Mark and grandson Braden, meeting them up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp early. We made a quick run up to the Jolly River and started fishing the "bank", easing into an incoming tide with just a couple of hours to go before it was high. These anglers were tossing live shrimp and minnows under a float and we had a couple of good bites but no takers. We fished a couple of more spots in Jolley and only had one small "ladyfish" to show for it.

We came back to the outside of Tiger and fished
some flooded oysters and did find one nice 17" Seatrout that Braden reeled in expertly, but that was it! After fishing two more spots outside of Tiger and with only one more small Trout to show for it, we made a final run to spot #7 in hopes of finding some fish.

BOOM! Yes, there were fish!  I can't remember who started it off but all three anglers began to put fish in the boat. They landed 3-4 keeper Trout (we only kept a total of 2 fish) and then they began to get nice Slot sized Redfish. Braden had 2-3 that were over 20", Mark had a couple of Slots and a short 12-spotter, and Allen landed a few Reds and Trout. It was our 7th spot of the day and turned out to be a "game winner" for making it a great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.